US stock market predictions, top shares to watch: High-flying S&P 500, Nasdaq, Dow Jones eye Fed rate cut, recession

US stock market indexes — S&P 500, Nasdaq, and Dow Jones — will be look up to the Federal Reserve. There are worries over the economy as well as the uncertainty on how much the U.S. central bank will cut interest rates at its monetary policy meeting.

The S&P 500 index is just 1% shy of its July record high despite weeks of market swings sparked by worries over the economy and seesawing bets on the size of the cut at the Fed’s September 17-18 meeting. With the S&P 500 up about 18% so far this year, it may not take much to disappoint investors with next week’s Fed meeting.

While the renewed hopes for a bigger cut were boosting large cap indexes on Friday the optimism seemed most evident in the Russell 2000 small cap index, which rose 2.5% on the day and 4.4% for the week.

For the week the S&P 500 rose 4.02% and the Nasdaq climbed 5.95%, with both marking their biggest weekly percentage gains since early November. The Dow added 2.60% for the week.

Stocks to Watch Out

Adobe finished down 8.5% after the Photoshop maker forecast fourth-quarter earnings below estimates. And Boeing shares sank 3.7% after its U.S. West Coast factory workers walked off the job early on Friday as they overwhelmingly rejected a contract deal.

Chinese e-commerce firm PDD Holdings fell 2.4% after the Biden administration said it was moving to curb low-value shipments entering the U.S. duty-free under the $800 “de minimis” threshold.

Uber shares rallied 6.4% after the ride-hailing platform said it would bring autonomous ride hailing to Austin, Texas, and Atlanta in partnership with Alphabet’s Waymo.

On the Nasdaq, 3,275 stocks rose and 1,026 fell as advancing issues outnumbered decliners by a 3.19-to-1 ratio. The S&P 500 posted 60 new 52-week highs and one new low while the Nasdaq Composite recorded 116 new highs and 54 new lows.

FAQs

Q1. What are major US stock indexes?

A1. Major US stock indexes are S&P 500, Nasdaq, and Dow Jones.

Q2. When is Fed’s policy meeting?

A2. Fed’s policy meeting is on September 17-18.

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